Many people are surprised that bacteria in our bodies outnumber our own cells by about 10 to 1![1] A significant number of these bacteria are part of an ecological community necessary for health in all humans—the microbiome.[2] The microbiome can affect overall health and weight. It can also determine the risk of diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and stroke.[3] Bacteria can cause various infections that are adverse to people’s well-being. Helicobacter pylori or H. pylori is one of those bacteria that can cause ulcers in the stomach or in the first part of the small intestine, the duodenum. H. pylori infects a large number of people, and causes ulcers in many. In fact, though it used to be believed that ulcers resulted from stress, spicy foods, alcohol and smoking, most ulcers are actually caused by these bacteria.[4]

Steps

Method1

Proven Natural Treatments

1

Drink cranberry juice. Cranberry juice appears to prevent or inhibit the bacteria from attaching themselves to the stomach; one study recommends 250mL of cranberry juice every day. This study only had a 14% success rate after 90 days, so it's probably best to include other approaches as well.[5]

2

Take licorice. Licorice is a traditional ulcer treatment in Indian, Chinese, and Kampo medicine. Although more evidence is needed, the existing tests on animals and humans are promising. This seems to work by preventing the bacteria from attaching to the stomach, so it works best in the early stages of infection.[6][7][8]

One component in licorice has been linked to increased blood pressure. You can buy a natural tablet called DGL (Deglycyrrhizinated licorice), which has had this component removed.

3

Practice healthy hygiene habits as prevention techniques. In order to minimize your risk of getting infected with H. pylori, make sure you carefully wash your hands and all utensils used for cooking and eating. Use warm, soapy water to wash. Don’t share utensils with anyone, and make certain anyone preparing foods for you is using proper hygiene. Wash all fruits and vegetables with warm, soapy water or a fruit and vegetable rinse product and rinse them well.

Method2

Natural Treatments with Possible Benefits

1

Understand the limitations of natural remedies. Natural treatments for H. pylori center on a nutritious diet, the use of common hygiene principles, and the use of specific botanical medicines, probiotics, and other supplements. These approaches have not been proven to cure H. pylori, but they can help prevent and treat the infection. These approaches can also help reduce the symptoms, if you are experiencing any.

2

Take probiotics. Probiotics are sources of the types of “good” bacteria and yeast normally found in the body’s microbiome. This includes species of lactobacillus, acidophilus, bifidobacteria, and the yeast saccharomyces boulardii. You can take these as a supplement (following the manufacturer’s instructions) or in foods. Preliminary evidence suggests this may help fight H. pylori.[9][10]

Good food sources of probiotics are fermented foods such as kefir, sauerkraut, pickles, kombucha (a fermented tea), tempeh, kimchi and other foods such as yogurt, miso soup, poi, asparagus, leeks, and onions.[11] Include these foods at least 2-3 times a week in your diet.

2-3 times per week, you can also include pre-biotics which help support the healthy gut bacteria by providing food for the bacteria. Pre-biotic foods include whole grains, onions, bananas, garlic, honey, artichokes, and leeks.[12]

3

Try edible botanicals. Many botanical medicines have antibiotic (bacteria-killing) properties. The following herbs have slowed the growth of H. pylori in lab cultures. This is a far cry from a complete cure of an existing infection, but they are worth a try:

Consider Korean red ginseng supplements. Korean red ginseng has shown anti- H. pylori activity in lab animals.[21] Red ginseng is different than American ginseng and has a wide variety of uses. While many regard ginseng as effective in increasing mental performance and sexual function, it also lower blood sugar, increase heart rate and can either raise or lower blood pressure. If you are interested in trying red ginseng, talk to a knowledgeable healthcare professional first.

5

Try consuming other helpful foods. Green tea, red wine, and manuka honey have also shown antibiotic activity against H. pylori. Many of these studies, however, were done in bacterial cultures or lab animals, so there is no human dosage information available. It is probably safe to include green tea and manuka honey in your diet but to drink red wine in moderation. These may help with an infection.

6

Eat a nutritious diet. There is no solid link between nutrition and H. pylori.[22] That said, natural health philosophies recommend whole, unprocessed foods for general health, which may improve immune system response and support a healthier microbiome. A healthy diet includes:

High quality protein:

low to moderate amounts of red meat (preferably grass fed)

moderate amounts of skinless poultry

low to moderate amounts of pork

moderate to high amounts of fish

Fresh vegetables and fruit (in a variety of rich colors)

Broccoli sprouts may treat H. pylori, but this is only supported by one study involving nine patients.[23]

Beans and legumes such as lentils

Complex carbohydrates found in:

vegetables

whole grain foods

grains such as brown rice and quinoa

beans and legumes

7

Minimize processed and packaged foods. Although nutrition is not as simple as "natural versus artificial," most processed foods are less nutritious and may include substances with negative side effects (sometimes including suppressed immune response).[24][25] Avoiding them will probably lead to better overall health, but it's unlikely to have a direct effect on the H. pylori.

To check if a product is processed/packaged, check the ingredient list. The longer the list is, the more processed the food is. Processed foods are most often found in the center aisles in grocery stores. Less processed foods are found around the outer aisles and would include dry beans, fresh fruits and vegetables, brown rice, bulk foods and single-ingredient foods.

Stay away from “quick and easy” ready-to-eat meals. Again, these tend to be highly processed and contain preservatives and other chemicals that are not really food.

8

Combine several methods. You may experience increased success by combining a number of the approaches above. You will feel better overall and may help your H. pylori if you combine eating better, using the herbs and spices suggested to add variety and flavor to your foods, adding some fermented foods, and supplementing with probiotics.

Get tested after 2-3 months of trying these approaches to see if the infection still exists. At that point, you may want to consider the antibiotics and acid-lowering drugs recommended by your physician. Always discuss your options with a healthcare professional and get tested to make certain you are dealing with an H pylori infection.

9

Call your physician. If these approaches don’t help you feel better or if you experience any severe abdominal pain, blood in the stools (black and tarry-looking stools) or bloody, black vomit or vomit that resembles coffee grounds, call your physician immediately! These can be signs of a serious problem.

Method3

Mythbusting

1

Don't expect water to cure the problem. Water consumption will not cure H. pylori or related ulcers. Ulcers are not caused by dehydration.[26]

2

Don't put your faith in garlic. Trials involving garlic show no effect on H. pylori, and no reduction in gastric cancer rates.[27]

3

Keep fenugreek out of your medicine cupboard. For this health problem at least, fenugreek probably has no effect.[28]

4

Know which treatments are not based on evidence. The following home remedies do not seem to be based on evidence. They are no more likely to work than anything else in your kitchen.

Cayenne pepper

Baikal skullcap[29] (Warning: if you want to try this treatment anyway, talk to a qualified healthcare professional first. It can slow blood clotting, affect blood sugar levels, and lower blood pressure.)

Method4

Medical Treatments

1

Take an antibiotic. If a doctor determines that you have an H. pylori infection, she may want you to take an antibiotic to fight the bacterial infection. Your doctor will likely recommend two or more antibiotics to be taken for at least 2-3 weeks or longer, depending on your response to the antibiotics.

Some of the more common antibiotics used are amoxicillin, clarithromycin, metronidazole, and tetracycline.

2

Try acid-reducing medications. Drugs that decrease acid levels (Proton Pump Inhibitors or PPIs) or a class of drugs called H2 blockers are often recommended along with the antibiotics. The decreased acid levels provide a less-than-ideal environment for the bacteria while the antibiotics kill them.

3

Add a bismuth solution. In addition to the acid reducer and antibiotic, your doctor may suggest a bismuth solution like bismuth subsalicylate (eg Pepto Bismol TM). Bismuth solutions such as Pepto-Bismol won’t kill off the bacteria by themselves, but they do work well in combination with the antibiotics and the drugs that lower the amount of acid in the stomach.

About 70-85% of people treated with these combinations are H pylori negative after treatment with all three medicines. There are a number of different possible combinations of two antibiotics, a bismuth salt, and an acid-lowering drug, so talk to your physician about her recommendation.

Method5

Understanding H. pylori

1

Learn how H pylori causes ulcers.H. pylori damages the lining of the stomach which normally protects the stomach from the stomach acids needed to start digesting your food. Once that lining has been damaged, the acids in the stomach begin to literally “eat away” at the stomach and duodenum, and may eventually cause pits (ulcers) that can bleed and cause significant pain.

This bleeding can cause anemia, fatigue and weakness, and the accompanying pain and discomfort can be debilitating.

H. pylori is associated with a type of stomach cancer and the gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. The infection is also associated with a decreased risk of another type of stomach cancer and a type of cancer of the esophagus.[30]

2

Know how you can get H pylori. You can get infected with H. pylori from infected foods, water, cooking utensils, or through contact with the fluids of other people already infected. For example, if you share a fork or a spoon with someone who is already infected, you may get infected as well.

The H. pylori bacteria are everywhere. They can be found in about two thirds of the world’s adult population, and children can be infected as well.[31] Infection rates in the developing world are higher than in the developed nations.

To help prevent an infection, make sure you wash your hands before eating, especially after using the bathroom. Only drink water from a clean and safe source and make sure your food is prepared safely and with sanitary practices.[32]

You probably can’t avoid the bacteria completely, but you can decrease your chances of getting infected. If you eat well to keep yourself healthy, your immune system should be in a good position to combat the infection.

3

Recognize the early symptoms of H pylori. Early infection of H. pylori can be totally painless and symptomless. In fact, unless your get tested, you may never even know you have the infection. When there are symptoms, these may include:[33]

An ache or burning sensation in the abdomen (which may worsen when you are hungry)

Nausea

Burping and belching

Decreased appetite

Bloating

Weight loss without intentional dieting

4

Get tested for H pylori. Your doctor can diagnose H. pylori by your symptoms and by a number of different lab tests.

A urea breath test is one of the best ways to diagnose H. pylori.

You would be asked to drink a liquid containing a “label,” which can be slightly radioactive or non-radioactive, depending on the specific test used. After a relatively short time period, your breath would be tested for the presence of urea.[34] Urea and ammonia are produced as a by-product of bacterial metabolism and give an indication of the presence of H. pylori.

A stool test checks for the presence of material from the bacteria.

Less often, your doctor may order a stomach biopsy which is then tested for the presence of the bacteria. Usually a biopsy is used when there is a suspicion of cancer, but it is the most reliable method for diagnosis and is preferred by some doctors.

These symptoms may be a result of hyperacidity associated with H pylori, but back pain or chest pain can be associated with other, potentially serious conditions. Your best bet is to see your doctor and have those symptoms professionally evaluated.

There are no clinical studies available, but there is no specific reason to think that drinking urine from any source would be of any benefit. Remember, urine is a liquid excretion of substances that the body is treating as waste. If there was a substance that was useful as an anti-bacterial agent, it might NOT be excreted.

Will bacteria be reduced after taking antibiotics and antacids for two weeks?

wikiHow Contributor

Yes, in general. But the antibiotics have to be active against the specific kind of bacteria to be effective, not every antibiotic will kill every form of bacteria. The antacids reduce the acid levels in the stomach, this helps reduce the quantity of H pylori as well.

Why did my doctor tell me you can't get this bacteria from other people?

wikiHow Contributor

Not every doctor knows everything and perhaps your doctor just made a simple mistake or didn't understand your question. Ask them again to explain their answer. Remember there's usually no harm in getting a second opinion.

↑Williams, L. (2011). Helicobacter pylori infection: a review of current scientific research on the efficacy or potential of herbal medicine for the treatment of H. pylori infection of the gastric mucosa. Australian Journal Of Medical Herbalism, 23(3), 139-145.

"It's helpful in knowing there are other methods of treating H. pylori bacteria other than invasive endoscopy. I have had that test three times in the last nine years and the seven days of of antibiotics were agony for me as I am over 70 years old."..." more

CT

Chris Turner

Nov 29, 2016

"It is interesting to read that natural treatments may assist some people. I have been recently diagnosed with this, and just had the breath test. I will abide by what my doctor says for treatment, but will also supplement by trying natural foods."..." more

LP

Lee Pearson

Jun 28, 2016

"I used the info about H. Pylori to explain it to a friend who has no medical knowledge about this. One other friend has now been diagnosed with stomach cancer, had a big chunk of her gut removed, and is still now on chemo after surgery."..." more

AA

Abel Akolo

Jul 14, 2016

"The eating habits were helpful, especially what to avoid and minimize, hygiene, and the fact that it can be transferred from a person already infected. Finally, the detailed information of the various remedies. Thanks."..." more

A

Anonymous

Aug 31, 2016

"The whole page was very informative. Thank you for taking the time to create it. I would also be interested in the efficacy of fecal transplants in curing people with H. pylori/gastroenteritis!"..." more

A

Anonymous

Jun 20, 2016

"I did not know anything about the bacteria, therefore your article was very informative. The impact is that knowing these things will help with the disease. Thank you very much."..." more

DR

D.J. Recchia

Jun 24, 2016

"This is a great place to begin your understanding. Don't just settle, look into NIH and begin to take H. Pylori serious. Leaving it untreated can be devastating."..." more